Guilty as charged. I did write chapters 6 and 7 of our Wi-Fi Network Design for Dummies eBook:

Chapter 6: Ten of the Biggest Wi-Fi Mistakes (and how to avoid them)

Chapter 7: Ten Wi-Fi Performance Boosts

Here’s a recap of the top 5 helpful tips from these two chapters:

1. Before you build a house, you’ll need the blue prints: When setting up a Wi-Fi network, it’s tempting to just turn on the router and go. However, most Wi-Fi problems can be avoided by a bit of head-scratching upfront. Ask yourself:

Which areas need to be covered with Wi-Fi?

How many users and devices am I expecting to join the network? Can I cover that with one device, or will I need more?

What will the users be doing with Wi-Fi?

Where can I place my Wi-Fi gear?

How secure does my Wi-Fi need to be?

Do I need to learn the fundamentals of Wi-Fi?

2. If you have no signal, you have nothing: There’s no way around it – everywhere you want the Wi-Fi to work, you’ll need (good) signal strength. Weak signal causes poor voice and video quality, and even network drop-offs. If you have just one router / access point, place it either in the center of your home, or in the place where Wi-Fi is used the most. Never place the router inside furniture, or otherwise down low. High up is good, as the furniture and people will not block your signal as much.

3. A clean channel is the key to good performance: Wi-Fi can operate on various channels. But, some can become more congested due to your neighbors. Use tools such as Ekahau HeatMapper or Wi-Fi Analyzer for Android to find a clean channel.

4. 5 GHz is your favorite band: Your Wi-Fi router / access point likely operates on two main frequency bands at the same time: 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. Client devices (laptops, smartphones, tablets, etc.), only use one frequency or the other at a time but likely can choose which one they decide to use at any time. The 2.4 GHz frequency band has just three interference-free channels (numbers 1,6,11). The 5 GHz band has a lot more. Thus, it’ll be easier to find a clean channel from the 5 GHz spectrum.

The client may not know what’s “best for itself”. In other words, the client device may simply associate to 2.4 GHz frequency even if 5 GHz would provide a lot better throughput. Thus, it may be a good idea to leave the 5 GHz radio on the router at a significantly higher transmit power than the 2.4 GHz radio (this is configured typically in the router’s web interface). This will attract the client devices to associate on 5 GHz frequency band and achieve better performance.

However, using maximum transmit power on the router may not always be a good idea, since even if the router can “shout very loudly,” your client device still has a weaker antenna, and transmission power. So, it may not be able to “shout back loud enough” to reach the router.

5. Understand the concept of airtime: Airtime is a limited resource in Wi-Fi. In other words, there’s only so much data that can be transferred every second in the air. So, you better make the most of it. On a given Wi-Fi channel, just one device talks at a time: It might be your access point. Or a laptop or smartphone in your network. Or your neighbor’s access point. Or your neighbor’s laptop. So, if you’re forced to share a channel with, say, your neighbors, at least make the channel usage as efficient as possible. But how?

Ensure you have modern (802.11ac or 802.11ax) access points.

Ensure all your client devices are preferably 802.11ac or better as well. 802.11n is also acceptable. Sadly, some older devices, and especially IoT (Internet of Things) devices may still support the 802.11g standard. If you find any 802.11b devices there might be a computer museum interested in your tech. 😉

The higher the signal and the lower the noise, the higher data rates at which your Wi-Fi gear will be able to operate. So, try to place the router(s) where most of the traffic is being generated, or where you need the fastest connections.

Disable the lowest data rates from your routers (think anything below 12 or even 24MBps). This forces everyone to talk fast, or not at all. Warning: This will reduce your Wi-Fi range. So, if connectivity starts failing after this change, consider buying more gear or reverting the change.

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